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Just Throw Up Some Planters 7/24/12

It has been five months since Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom made its official debut. As far as I am concerned it’s already become stale. I understand it’s still a new attraction having only been live since February 22nd of this year. However I feel it has been completely ignored since then and there has been a lack of initiative to make improvements. SOTMK debuted to a rabid fan base of Disneyana collectors, locals, & day guests. It was only a matter of days until eBay listings, Facebook groups, websites & blogs flooded the masses. However it appears most fans have lost interest and there is not much to look forward to. Personally, I have done nothing but champion this attraction since its inception. I’ve constantly defended my position on it to all the naysayers, and frankly I’m quite disappointed with its current status.

As I posted on 3/27/12 with SOTMK only being open a little over 1 month the medium/hard levels had been locked for all players. The only answer given to me or anyone else I’ve talked to is that they are down due to “maintenance”. I tried to get an answer today and got the same response. Honestly, how severe is this problem? I mean you might as well just throw a planter in front of it.

See below.

This is what happens when something is closed at WDW. You throw up a planter or 10…

I’ve made it no secret that I believe some of the crazy locals were to blame for the banishment of the medium/hard levels in addition I realize that the long waits at the portals were also a factor. However this is the Magic Kingdom not your run of the mill Six Flags. This is the king of all theme parks, you are going to wait in lines, for everything. No one is making you or telling you to play SOTMK all day long. Frankly if the harder levels were too much for you to handle you should stick with the easy one. Why should the advanced players be punished. With the inability to level up in difficulty this game now has ZERO repeatability. Playing it over and over again on easy for the sake of leveling up your cards for no reason is absolutely pointless.

Like all things Disney you’d expect an onslaught of merchandise. Well we’re all still waiting. I’ve never met a more eager and impatient group of consumers than the fans of SOTMK. This is a fan base that is ready to purchase anything you’re willing to throw at them, and what do they get? A non logo-ed pin binder converted to a card album for $46.95! Wow way to go team. Where are the T Shirts, Pins, Posters, Vinylmations, Spell Books, Card Protectors, the list goes on and on. TCG’s like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic The Gathering, have incredible amounts of merchandise. With Disney having a larger reach and appeal, missing the boat on the merch has done nothing but leave money on the table. I’m not a merchandising expert by any means but most of the people playing SOTMK have already purchased and created their own accessories. Why should they shell out big money for something official now? Especially since the majority of the fan base doesn’t appear to be enjoying the game anymore.

Finally you have the greatest mystery of them all, where did cards 61-70 go and why? Removing those cards from circulation did nothing but spawn a resale market. It didn’t make them fun to try to collect, it made them expensive and ridiculous. If they were pulled to be later to released for purchase along with another library of spell cards than fine that’s great. However no one seems to know when or if they’ll return.

As instructed I’ve been watching the Disney Parks Blog, and there have been zero updates or information regarding SOTMK since 6/6/12. Call me impatient, but it seems to me and many other fans that it’s simply being ignored. Then again, I’m an AP and a local. I have the means to come and go to the parks as I please. However for the tour group, once a year, or even once in a lifetime visitor this is all new to them. I understand they’re not in the business of catering to the locals, but most of us are the bloggers, podcasters, & critics. Keep it fresh, get us excited, we love Disney, that’s why we do what we do.

I just think it’s pretty sad that an attraction some 4 years in the making has become so complacent. I still believe SOTMK has such potential it’s a shame for it to be ignored.

2 thoughts on “Just Throw Up Some Planters 7/24/12”

I agree with you, they need to bring out the merchandise and bring back the Medium and Hard levels of the game. For those of us who play all the time it is getting old.
I find it funny that people can come up with bootleg merchandise in a matter of days or weeks, but an organization like Disney takes 10 months, what’s up with that? Like they didn’t have a merchandising plan when they were developing the game? They knew it was going to take off after the Beta test period, so the merchandise should have kicked into high gear and been out for the summer rush. All these tourists are coming down for their 1 week of vacation and not going home with a SotMK shirt, spell book, and other stuff. Disney really messed up on this one.

For what it’s worth, I have found the silver lining on the cloud. I was back at Disney about a week or two ago and because of the lack of interest, because most people are now over the hype. I found it was nice to be able to play in peace without some of the weirdo regulars that bugged me when I first was going there close to a weekly basis. There are some people that I really have no interest in seeing let along talk to while I’m there.

So as the only plus I can find, it was heaven to just play and run into a fresh new group, where I could keep my conversation short, if not just smile and keep quiet. As of late, I’m finding that to now enjoy the game, I try to carry just the minimum of cards and look like a tourist as to not get bothered (by those you can tell that come everyday) and be able to play. (But that’s a whole other talk for a different day) ^_^